


No Homo, Right?

by secretagentspydetectiveninja



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Valentine's Day, just cuteness tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9703121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretagentspydetectiveninja/pseuds/secretagentspydetectiveninja
Summary: It's been exactly one year since the Dark Cupid incident on Valentine's Day, and this time Kim decides to ask out someone a little different.





	

It was February 14th, exactly one year after the Dark Cupid incident. Max knew that his best friend Kim wasn't planning on asking any cute girls to be his Valentine this time - the last rejection had been brutal enough for him to swear off trying anything on this cursed day ever again. No, Kim had made it clear that if he was ever going to ask a girl out again, it would be on a different day. Not the day that reminded him of the time he turned into a supervillain.

That was why Max was utterly shocked when, of all things, Kim asked _him_ out on a date.

"I mean like a bro date!" Kim said down the phone. "Like, a friendship date! That kind of thing. I just thought it would be cool to hang out, you know. Not in a homo way though, because I'm not gay or anything, just... yeah. Friendship."

"Of course," Max replied. "What were you thinking of doing?"

"We could go out for dinner or something. I just wanna _do_ something today, that's all. You know, get my mind off... what happened last year..."

"Dinner sounds great, Kim. Where should we go? I could calculate the cheapest place that isn't too far away-"

"No don't worry, I know a place, it's not too far from school. We could meet up there and I'll show you?"

"I'd love to."

"Cool! I'll see you there soon!"

As he hung up, Max tried to ignore his racing heart beat. He could hardly believe it... Kim was taking him out to dinner on Valentine's Day? It almost felt too good to be true. But then again, it _was_ too good to be true. It was only a friendship date, after all. Nothing special there. He had been out to dinner with Kim before, it shouldn't be a big deal.

But still... _Valentine's Day_... Did Kim know? Max was sure he had been very careful hiding his true feelings. There was no way Kim could have figured it out. But what if he had? What if he loved Max back? What if that was why he was asking him out like this, and was too shy to do it properly?

No. Max shook his head and tried to get the thought out of his mind. The likelihood of something like that was almost zero, completely illogical. So far Kim had never shown even the slightest interest in him, so why would he start now? Putting on a coat and grabbing his wallet, Max left his house and headed towards the school.

 

A few flakes of snow had started falling by the time he reached the front of the school. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Kim standing there without even a jacket on.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked. "It's -2.5°C right now."

"Nah, I'm fine," Kim said, running a hand through his hair. "I ran all the way here, you know. I'm still pretty hot."

 _Yeah, you are hot,_ Max thought to himself, his eyes wandering absently over his friend's well-defined arm muscles. _Really, really hot..._

"Anyway lemme show you to that restaurant now," Kim said. He grabbed Max's hand. "Bro, your fingers are so cold! Don't you have gloves or something?"

"Kim, my fingers are always cold," Max mumbled, trying not to freak out. _Kim was holding his hand. Why was he doing that?_

"Huh, how have I known you for that long without knowing that? Anyway, let's go." Without letting go of his hand, Kim pulled Max down the street.

The nearby restaurant was small, warm and cosy, though being this day of the year, it was filled mostly with couples. Kim was looking a little red in the face when he pulled out a chair and sat down with Max.

"No homo, right?" he said, smiling nervously. "I mean, just 'cause it's Valentine's Day it doesn't mean a guy can't treat his friend to dinner. Right?"

"Right," Max said. He looked down at his menu, trying not to feel too disappointed. Of course it was just a friendship date. He knew that. He should just do his best to be there for Kim, that was what mattered. Not some stupid crush that would probably go away soon anyway.

"Hey, do you think we could share food?" Kim asked. He wasn't looking directly at Max; he seemed to be awkwardly looking at a spot on the ceiling instead. "Because that would be cheaper and everything. Yeah."

"Depending on what we order it wouldn't _necessarily_ be cheaper-"

"Also I don't know what to choose, so I'll just have whatever you're having. We can share, it's fine." He was speaking too fast. What was up with that?

"I think I'll have the pasta, then," Max said, knowing Kim would like that too.

They ordered their food, and when it arrived they were surprised to see that the sauce was drizzled onto the pasta in the shape of a heart.

"Enjoy your meal," the waitress said, giggling as she left a little candle on their table with the food. They stared at it, neither one quite knowing what to say.

"Uh... you can eat the heart bit..." Kim muttered, turning away and rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "I don't really want the sauce anyway..."

Max picked up the fork and began digging in. The sauce was actually really good - Kim was missing out. But of course, Kim wouldn't want to eat something with a heart on it like that. That was way too cheesy. Quite literally, too - the pasta had plenty of melted cheese smothered all over it.

Kim didn't start eating until Max had already nearly finished, and by that time the food had almost gone cold. It didn't make a difference, of course, Kim was such a quick eater he shovelled everything down in about two minutes.

"I'm paying," he said, wiping his mouth with his napkin once he had finished.

"Kim, it's fine, we can split the cost-"

"Seriously Max, I'm the one who asked you here in the first place, so I'm paying." He already had his wallet out and was counting out change.

"Okay." Max smiled, watching his friend struggling with the maths. That face Kim made when he was concentrating, the way his eyebrows furrowed, his fingers tapping on the table surface... Max had seen it many times when helping Kim out with his homework, and he still wasn't tired of it. Something about it was just so... _charming_.

 _Snap out of it!_ he told himself, trying to stop staring. He looked out of the window instead, noticing that the snow was falling much more heavily now. There was already a layer of it piling up on the window ledge outside. Maybe the transport would be stopped for now, in which case Max would have to walk all the way back home. It was a good thing he had a coat. Kim, on the other hand would freeze out there...

Once Kim had finally counted out the correct amount of money, he paid for the meal and they headed outside. Sure enough the snow on the ground was now deep enough to leave footprints in. Though it was fairly late already, the moon hadn't yet risen, though the brightness reflecting off the snow from buildings everywhere more than made up for that.

"Kim, it might be a good idea for you to pop into a supermarket and buy yourself a coat before you go home," Max said as they walked down the street together. "You'll get too cold otherwise."

"No, it's fine, I'm not cold..."

"Are you sure? It's _snowing!_ "

Kim suddenly held Max's hand again. "You can keep me warm, right?"

"Uh..."

Max stopped and turned to see that Kim was blushing and looking in the other direction.

"...No homo, though."

Of course. No homo. Max took a deep breath. "And what about your arms?"

"They're fine. Seriously. I'm really warm actually. Like, really warm. Like, if we went for a walk in the park right now I still wouldn't be cold. That level of warmness."

"Kim, I think you-"

"You want me to prove it? 'Cause I definitely will! Yeah, bring it on, snow! Let's go to the park, and I'll show you just how much body heat I've got!" Without even waiting for an answer, Kim turned and dragged Max in the other direction, heading for the nearby park. He went so fast that Max had to jog to keep up, almost slipping over on the icy ground.

They made it to the park and Kim finally stopped. Max leaned over, catching his breath.

"Kim, we talked about this, you have to start thinking before acting, or you'll end up in another panther situation like that time with-"

"I also wanted to talk to you about something," Kim said quickly. Still holding onto Max's hand, he started walking slowly down the path with him.

"Couldn't you have done that when we were inside?"

"I know, I know, I just... I forgot. Yeah." Kim was looking at the ground. "It's about last year. You know, when I got akumatized."

"Oh..."

"Well, kinda. It's not _exactly_ about that. It's, uh... about you, actually."

Max could feel his pulse quickening. "What do you mean?"

"It's just... I know you didn't like Chloé, you knew she was no good for me, whatever. But you didn't judge me or anything. You still helped me out anyway. Buying that brooch for me, helping me confess, all that stuff. And after I got akumatized and then saved, you made sure I was okay and didn't bring up the topic again. It was really cool of you."

"Well... that's what friends are for, right?" Max said. He wanted to tell Kim how much it broke his heart to see him treated so cruelly by Chloé, to be humiliated like that. How much Kim deserved someone better than Chloé. Someone who would treat him right. Someone who would actually _care_ about him. But Max didn't say any of that.

"Yeah," Kim said. "Friends. You're... you're such an _awesome_ friend, Max. Thanks for being here for me today too, even at really short-notice. I really needed it."

"It was my pleasure. You're an awesome friend too, Kim."

"And thanks for all those times you helped me with my homework. And not complaining when I dragged you along to the zoo. Or all the other stupid stuff I've done." He was speaking fast now, like he couldn't get the words out quick enough. "I feel like I just haven't really appreciated you enough 'cause I'm always being an idiot and you're so smart all the time and yet you choose to hang out with someone like me..."

Max was completely taken aback. Was that really how Kim felt? Kim, the popular, confident, athletic jock who could be friends with anyone he wanted to, was honoured to be able to hang out with a nerd like Max? People had always found their friendship unusual, but he had never considered it like that before.

Kim suddenly stopped and turned around, gently taking Max's other hand. "Max, bro, I... I, uh, gotta ask you something. I've been meaning to for a while now. But today just seemed like the right day for it."

No way... could this be? Was Kim actually going to ask Max to be his Valentine, properly this time? Surely that _had_ to be what he was leading up to...

"You remember that brooch?" Kim asked. "The one you got me to give to Chloé last year? Well, uh, since she didn't want it and I don't have anything else to do with it, I guess... do you want it back? It's been a year, so... I guess if there's someone who you want to give it to instead..."

 _But I already gave it to him,_ Max thought. _I gave it to him so that he could ask out the girl of his dreams, and be happy_.

"Of course if you don't want it I could just keep it..."

"Yes, keep it," Max said. "Think of it as a present from me. That's better than associating it with Chloé, isn't it?"

"Haha, yeah, true..." Kim suddenly stepped a little closer. "Okay, yeah, you were right, I'm kinda getting cold now..."

"Then should we head inside somewhere?"

"What? No! Then the park would have won! I'm not letting it beat me!" Kim took another step closer, still holding both Max's hands. "You can like... still help me keep warm, right?"

"Yes... of course..."

"Good..."

Kim wrapped Max in a tight hug. Obviously it wasn't the first time they'd hugged, far from it, but... something about it just felt different. Max could feel his neck heating up, followed by his face. Thank goodness Kim wouldn't be able to see him blushing, considering his head was buried somewhere in Kim's hoodie.

Kim's hoodie... ah yes... it smelled strongly of the deodorant he always used. Being in such close proximity to it made Max feel like his brain had just stopped working completely. He could stand there forever, enveloped in Kim's arms, inhaling the scent of his hoodie, never needing to think about anything else ever again...

After a few minutes Kim pulled away a little, his arms still wrapped around Max. His entire face had gone red.

And it was only a few inches away from Max's.

"I'm still cold," Kim said, his voice barely above a whisper. Surely he had to be lying - if he was blushing that much then he must be warm? Max was just about to say so, when Kim leaned forwards and kissed him.

Max was so stunned he didn't react for a few seconds. Then it hit him. Kim was kissing him. Kim, the boy he had a crush on, was actually kissing him. On Valentine's Day. In the snow. _This was really happening_.

He closed his eyes and went up onto his tiptoes to reach better, his hands on Kim's shoulders to steady himself. Wow... he had wanted to do this for a very, very long time, but he had never expected he would actually get the chance to. It felt better than he had ever imagined.

After what seemed like forever, Kim pulled away. He stared at Max, his eyes shining, his cheeks even more flushed than they were earlier. Max couldn't help but stare back. Neither of them spoke or even moved, for the longest time. The snow had started settling in their hair.

Finally, Kim, turned aside and ran a hand through his hair, knocking out all the snow. He gave a shaky little smile and mumbled, "Um... no homo, right?"

No homo.

_No homo._

The words felt like knives.

Max pushed himself off and started walking away from Kim, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Max, wait!" Kim called, running after him. "Wait, don't leave-"

"Kim, you can't just _do_ that!" Max said, his voice sounding startlingly loud all of a sudden. "You can't just... you can't just kiss me and then tell me it didn't even mean anything to you!"

"Max, no, it's not like that-"

"I understand friendship dates, okay? I understand you wanted to just hang out with your bro without having to worry about having a real date or anything, and I'm happy to do that for you - you're my _friend_ and you deserve it. But if you didn't want it to be romantic then why did you kiss me? You could have just done something else! Saying "no homo" doesn't necessarily make it any less "homo", Kim! It just makes it sound like... like you were messing about with my feelings or something!"

"Oh man, Max, I'm so sorry, I'm such an... I'm such an idiot..." Kim was looking at the floor sheepishly, kicking the snow around at his feet. "Listen... I like you, okay? I like you a lot. As a friend, yes, but also... you know... as a crush, I guess. And I know I should have told you earlier, but I was just... I was _scared_ , because... I know you wouldn't treat me like how Chloé did last time, but still... I didn't want to ruin our friendship. In case you didn't like me back or something. I didn't want to make it awkward. Because... you're so important to me, Max, I didn't want to ruin that. But... I guess I did. Seriously, I'm sorry, I know I should have just asked you out on a proper date or asked you to be my Valentine..."

This whole time, Kim really _had_ been in love with him? But he cared too much to bring it up? Huh, that was... that was almost _exactly_ how Max himself always felt. He hadn't wanted to ask Kim out in case it would affect their friendship. He hadn't even known Kim was into boys. He especially hadn't considered that out of all boys, Kim would be into _him_. The thought lifted his spirits suddenly, so quickly he couldn't even remember feeling as upset as he had been a minute ago. And not only that, but Kim seemed so flustered. It was... cute. So cute. Cute enough that Max was tempted to tease him about it.

"Oh Kim," he sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you sometimes."

"I'll just... uh... go home now I guess..."

"Wait." Max took a step towards him and grabbed his arm. "We haven't finished our walk in the park yet... have we?"

Kim blushed. "No, I guess not... but... aren't you mad at me?"

"I kind of want to be, but I just can't. Not when you're being an adorable blushing idiot like that." Max moved his hand down further to hold Kim's hand. "So, should we get walking? You'll get cold otherwise. Though of course I could just kiss you again."

"W-what?"

"I mean, we are on a date now, aren't we? You're my Valentine. If you want another kiss you can just ask."

Kim grinned nervously. "Oh, um, if you're offering..."

Max hopped up and gave Kim a kiss on the cheek. "I assume this means we're boyfriends now?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Great." Max smiled and leaned against his arm. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kim."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Max." Kim ruffled Max's springy hair. "Homo fully intended."

**Author's Note:**

> Valentine's Day always makes me want to appreciate Kim considering how badly it went for him in the Dark Cupid episode, so what better way than to give him a much better Valentine's Day with someone he cares about? Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!


End file.
